own, I saw some one on horseback nodding to me:
it was my friend, Herr Geiger. On hearing that we intended to
remain for the night where we were, he persuaded us to accompany him
to the estate of his father-in-law, which was situated close at
hand. In the latter gentleman, we made the acquaintance of a most
worthy and cheerful old man of seventy years of age, who, at that
period, was Directing Architect and Superintendant of the Fine Arts
under Government. We admired his beautiful garden and charming
residence, built, with great good taste, in the Italian style.

Early on the following morning, I accompanied Count Berchthold to
the botanical gardens. Our curiosity to visit these gardens was
very great: we hoped to see there magnificent specimens of trees
and flowers from all parts of the world--but we were rather
disappointed. The gardens have been founded too recently, and none
of the large trees have yet attained their full growth; there is no
very great selection of flowers or plants; and to the few that are
there, not even tickets are affixed, to acquaint the visitor with
their names. The most interesting objects for us, were the monkey's
bread-tree, with its gourds weighing ten or twenty-five pounds, and
containing a number of kernels, which are eaten, not only by
monkeys, but also by men--the clove, camphor, and cocoa-tree, the
cinnamon and tea bush, etc. We also saw a very peculiar kind of
palm-tree: the lower portion of the trunk, to the height of two or
three feet, was brown and smooth, and shaped like a large tub or
vat; the stems that sprang from this were light green, and like the
lower part, very smooth, and at the same time shining, as if
varnished; they were not very high, and the crest of leaves, as is
the case with other palms, only unfolded itself at the top of the
tree. Unfortunately, we were unable to learn the names of this kind
of palm; and in the whole course of my voyage, I never met with
another specimen.

We did not leave the gardens before noon: we then proceeded on foot
four miles as far as Batafogo, and thence reached the city by
omnibus.

Herr Geiger had invited Count Berchtholdt, Herr Rister, (a native of
Vienna), and myself to an excursion to the Corcovado mountains; and
accordingly, on the 1st November, at a time when we are often
visited by storms and snow, but when the sun is here in his full
force, and the sky without a cloud, at an early hour in the morning
did we com